〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with us he is thy compassionate chirurgion binding up thy wounds and powring in them balme and oyle for their refreshment 4. Hee is our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hee is our Conquerour and in his strength makes us conquerours also as it is written In all these things wee are more then Conquerours Let us therefore lift up our wearyed hands and strengthen our fainting knees and in patience runne the race that is set before us for in due time wee shall reape our reward if wee faint not for when wee have fought our fight when wee have runne our course and kept fast that which we have received then shall wee receive the end of our faith the salvation of our soules in the day of the Lord Jesus Amen SECTIO 6. Thy kingdome come IN this petition three things are chiefly to be remarked the matter of the Petition the manner of it and the particle of copulation which ties the matter to the manner the matter is a kingdome the manner is our desire wee desire it to come the particle of copulation is Thy for it is no other kingdome wee desire but Gods kingdome First then of the manner of our desire Come and then of the title of appropriation Thine If wee shall returne to the manner of our desire wee desire that Gods kingdome may come wherein for our better understanding these foure severall things are remarkeable First from whence it cōmeth Secondly to whom it comes Thirdly by what way or in what manner it commeth Fourthly to what end it commeth Shall wee enquire from whence it commeth I answer from heaven to whom it commeth I answer to the elect how it commeth I answer it commeth not by observation but by dispensation and finally shall wee enquire to what end it commeth I answer it commeth for the manifestation of Gods glory and the salvation of the penitent sinner of each of these a word First let us looke from whence it commeth I have said it commeth from heaven for the kingdome of God being either externall or internall or eternall all of them come from heaven His externall kingdome commeth from heaven for hee was king before they were made for looke whatsoever they are in themselves that they are of him and by him See Nebuchadnezer in his better reformation It commeth not from the East nor from the West but from God who is the giver of every good gift it cōmeth neither from Athens nor Jerusalem for then either Philosophers had beene Monarchs or the Scribes and Pharisees had beene dominators over the world but not the first for when they seeme to be wise they proved fooles and God turned the understanding of the prudent man to nought No nor the second for although they sate in Moses chaire yet they locked up the key of knowledge and neither entred themselves into the kingdome of God nor did suffer other men to enter If this Kingdome then bee neither from the East nor from the West neither from Athens nor from Jerusalem what rests but it must bee from heaven If his externall kingdome be of this pitch much more is his internall kingdome the communication of his grace to man and the soule of man for the heart of manlyeth not within the compasse or power of man hee onely that made the heart knoweth it and hath the keyes thereof when hee openeth no man shutteth and when hee shuteth there is no man can open againe For Paul may plant and Apollo may water but only God giveth the increase and without him our word is but a tinkling brasse It rests then that wee consider his eternall kingdome which is onely from him by him and for him for from thence hee hath thrust some before time such are the Apostate Angells some in the tract and progresse of time such are the disobedient and incredulous some in the end of time such are they whom he knoweth not What resteth then but since all things are of him frō him through him and for him that unto him we should ascribe the onely bonour of our salvation neither saying with the Pelagian nor with the Somi-Pelagian that our salvation is either in all or in part of our selves for of our selves wee are not able to thinke a good thought but whatsoever wee have wee have received and if it be so why should wee glory c. 2ly I enquire to whom it cōmeth I answer to the elect to the elect onely for many are called but few are chosen And to speake plainly to you In all the dispensation of God nothing is more fearfully remarkable then this to whom the kingdome of God cōmeth For as it was before time so it is in the fulnesse of time as it is in the course fulnes of time so it shall be in the end of time Before time all were not chosen but hee loved Iacob and hated Esau hee appointed some to be vessels of honour and some of dishonour hee had mercy on whom he would have mercy and whom hee would hee left to the hardnesse of their own heart In time hee calleth whō he will the rest are rejected When the old world was drowned hee saved Noah When Sodome and Gomorah was burnt he saved Lot when all the world were Idolaters hee called his servant Abraham to the Land of Canaan and when all the Jewes were opposites to his Sonne hee called the poore to bee partakers of the Gospell No I must tell you a mystery As the choice of the heires of Gods kingdome from eternity was not of all but of some so is not the dispensation of the calling in time of all but of some few for it will come in a land but not in every city it will enter in a city but not in every family and it will enter in a family but not lay hand on every person of the family I say first it will come to a land but not to every city for it came to Judah for there his name was knowne but not to every city for it did not come to the Gargasens they prefer their swine before Christ It will come to a city for it came to Jericho called none but Zacheus it came to Philippi it chused none but Lidia the Gaoler It will come to a family but not to every person of the family to Rome but not to Nere to the family of Narcissus but not to his owne heart And as before time the kingdome of God was not ordeined for all but for some few and as in time it is not effectuall to all but to some few so after all time it shall not bee given to all but to some few for according to the efficacie of the dispensation thereof in time such shall bee the donation and fruition thereof after all time and in the end of time for two shall bee at the mill grinding the one shall bee received the other shall be refused two shall be lying in one bed the one
knowne by his name to Adam to Moses to Abraham Isaack Iacob and the Prophets And by these his names point out to them the fulnesse of his grace in Jesus Christ I answer thee It is true indeed but the differēce of the revelatiō is great for God in the manifesting of his name unto us hath now done it more neerly more cleerely more fully and more familiarly First more neerly for what is neerer to us then our nature which he did assume hee became flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone yea like unto us in all things sinne onely excepted that wee might bee made to God in him flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone in a spirituall regeneration Secondly more clearely for they saw but darkly and under a veile but wee have seene him in the prime and strength of his light for it is written All these things were but shadowes of things to come but the body was Christ Iesus Galat. 2. Thirdly more fully for he hath kept back no part of the counsell of the Father from us which was necessary to our salvation Fourthly more familiarly for what could be more familiar then to have the Sonne of God walking in our flesh amongst us thirty three yeares and an halfe And what greater familiarity then to make both Jew and Gentile who were estranged from God to bee one in himselfe Let us therefore boldly looke upon him in the revelation of his name and learne in every thing in heaven or in earth on the which we set our eyes to reverence this great and mighty name the Lord our God This being spoken concer-cerning the subject of the petition the Attribute now followeth in order to bee considered and it is laid before us in a word of sanctification or hallowing Hallowed bee thy name For understanding hereof wee will first looke what it is to hallow or sanctifie Secondly in whose power it lyeth to sanctifie Thirdly how Gods name is hallowed or can be sanctified of us First to hallow or to sanctifie any thing is to vindicate the same from any absurd or profane use to its owne holy and proper end and therefore to hallow Gods name is to vindicate it from all abuse whatsoever and to attribute to it the due honour and glory thereof But let this be made a little more cleare Secondly God sometimes halloweth man sometimes halloweth and God and man both do sometimes hallow God hallowed man by creation making him to his image God halloweth man by regeneration in the day of his new birth and God shall totally and finally hallow man in the day of his totall and finall redemption so that whatsoever God halloweth it is positively hallowed Man halloweth God not by making him blessed for what can a finite creature adde to the felicity of the great and infinite Creator Man therfore halloweth Gods name but declaratively when hee confesseth to the honour and glory of God that hee hath nothing but that which hee hath received and when hee giveth praise unto him for the same So that the hallowing and sanctification of God to man in respect of mans to him back againe is as the cause to the effect or as Gods election knowledge love to us from eternity causeth our election knowledge love of God back againe in time Finally there be some things that God and man both halloweth and these are persons times places i. his Ministers his Sabbaths and his Churches for these God hath hallowed and consecrated to himselfe Man halloweth them by observing and keeping them holy without prophanation and sanctifying himselfe in them and by them To speake then in a word Gods name is hallowed two wayes notionally and practically Notionally when wee acknowledge him aright and in the thoughts of our heart do yeeld unto him that due reverence which becommeth the creatures to give to the Creator Practically when in the tenour of our lives we do rightly acknowledge the truth of his word the riches of his mercy the equity of his justice and the majestie of his workes Vse Now that wee may make use of this Petition let us call to minde a little what hath beene said that under the name of God was understood his essence his word and his worke his essence we cannot hallow for wee can adde nothing to that which is infinite neither can we declare it sufficiently for here wee know but in a part and see but in a part Gods name is honoured in his word First when it is reverenced Secondly when it is trusted Thirdly when it is obeyed First when it is reverenced not as the word of man but as the word of God for this cause the Apostle St Paul at Corinth preached not in the vaine inticing eloquence of humane wisdome lest the crosse of Christ should be of no effect Secondly when it is trusted for want of this trust the old world was drowned and Moses debarred the land of Canaan and mockers in the last time shall receive a judgement that lingers not Thirdly when it is obeyed and men walke worthy of the calling wherunto they are called The wāt of this made Eli his house desolate and Shilo a mockingstocke The want of this made the sword to stay on the house of David surely the want of this shall one day beare witnesse against the children of this generation One thing resteth to honour God in his workes and this sort of sanctification is threefold according to the threefold estate of his creatures for some of them wee contemplate onely some of them wee acquire with toyle and much travell and some of them wee use with freedome and true liberty Wee contemplate the Sunne the Moone and the starres all made for the glory of God and the praise of his name we possesse the earth the seas with toyle difficulty and paine wee use with liberty and freedome our meate our drinke and our apparell In the first wee honour God if from the excellencie of the creature wee looke up to the admirable glory of the Creatour In the second we honour God whilst we care for them not with a thornie but a sober care 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the last wee honour God whilst wee sanctifie their use by the word by prayer and by sobriety But shall not man honour God in the words of his mouth also Yes surely but because hee who honoureth God in his heart doth also honor him with his mouth è contra by the one wee shall easily judge of the other For this it is that the wicked man is reproved Psalme 50. And that Christ commandeth Sathan to be silent speaking out of a possessed man for hee knew that his name would be dishonoured whilst it was named out of the mouth of the father of lyes let our speech therefore bee powdered with salt Now onely resteth the word of appropriation Thy which is set as a band and tye knitting the Attribute
by an indeleble character shall man seale to himselfe the assurance of Gods mercy if hee himselfe can bee mercifull For it is written Condemnation mercilesse shall be to the man that will not shew mercy but mercy rejoyceth against judgement Againe on the other part whilst St Luke forbeareth the word As for feare of wounding the weake conscience and useth the word For it is not to make the word causall but cōmiserative for he setteth not down that word as a cause or meritorious occasion procuring and adjuring God to bee mercifull unto us but the word is a word of commiseration and pitty drawing the argument from the lesse to the more and importuning God onely with the remembrance of our weaknesse as if hee should have said If we who are evill can forgive in any condition O thou who art rich in mercy forgive us fully freely and finally I have looked thus upon the word in the native genuine signification thereof freeing both the wounded conscience from the terrour of severity and withall putting a bridle in the lips of the presumptuous man lest at any time hee should runne out It resteth now that wee make use of the word in the true signification thereof Vse The use wee make is this I see heaven is so good a thing that all men would be at it and mercy so sweet that every man would have a part and portion in it Yet O behold the vanity of man whilst wee all ayme at the end wee are forgetfull of the way and whilst we gape after the felicity of the covenant wee forget the condition Will you enquire the cause It is this the covenants of God are peacefull and the promises of his rewards are rich and plentifull but the way to their fruition is thorny and hard Hee covenanted with Adam the dominion over his creatures and the fruition of all the garden but when the Impostor came hee made the condition hard and in so doing hee shut them up from the knowledge of good and evill Hee covenanteth with Abraham the possession of the land of Canaan but the condition was hard Offer to mee thy first borne of the free woman Isaack Hee covenants with Gedion the deliverance of his people from the tyranny of Midian but the condition was hard Cut downe thy fathers grove c. neither are these termes hard as being the voice of the Law but what is more they have beene of the very like and equall severity under the Gospell For will you consider to whom it is that Christ Jesus promiseth comfort it is to them that mourne To whom promiseth he the kingdome of God but to them that are poore in spirit To whom satisfaction onely to those who hunger and thirst after righteousnesse And finally to whom doth hee promise ease and relaxation from their sinnes onely to those who are weary and laden and to such as take up their crosse and follow him daily O then what a folly is this amongst the sonnes of men to snatch at the grace of the covenant with the mis-prise of the conditiō yet behold for reformation of our weaknesse in this point it hath pleased our Redeemer to annexe the condition to the covenant shewing us that unlesse we be carefull of the restipulation wee cannot bee able to crave the benefit of the first bargian for as it is generally holden amongst men that our one handed contract cannot stand so is it also with God and us Hee never broke his part of the covenant hee made nor forfeited at any time his part of the obligation the forfeiture is onely ours for though hee keepe wee breake and though hee covenant mutually yet wee scorne the restipulation but alas wee do pittifully deceive our selves it shall not bee so with us as it was said to Simon Magus in the case of his bribery when hee thought to purchase the grace of God by money Peter answered him Thou hast no part nor portion with us in this inheritance because thy heart is not upright in the sight of God but thou art in the gall of bitternesse and in the bond of iniquity Act. 8.21 So shall it be said to us in the time wee deprecate our iniquities thou hast no part nor portion O man in the worke of mercy because thou wilt not bee mercifull and I will not forgive thee shall God say because thou wilt not forgive thy brother From the particle of simimilitude wee come now to the persons to whom this similary practice of pardon is imposed and the word is plurall and indefinite plurall Wee indefinite tending and extending it selfe to all sexes sorts and conditions of men whatsoever When I reade and ponder these words I cannot but call to minde some other places and passages of Scripture in the which the like peremptory dealing is expressed to us I remember Iacob on a time wrestling with the Angell of the covenant the great Angell seeing that he could not prevaile said to Iacob Let mee goe I pray thee but Iacob answered I will not let thee goe till thou blesse mee Likewise Ioshuah being desired to goe up with Israel to the land of promise answered I will not goe on forward except thou goe with mee And as it hath beene the wisedome and care of the children of God to wrestle with him for the attaining of his blessing so it hath beene alwaies the care of God to wrestle with his Saints in the day that hee would blesse them to propound unto them a condition of difficulty by the obedience whereof hee might draw them from themselves to an absolute reposing and relying upon his mercy This is his practice also here wherein howsoever he be a God rich in mercy slow to anger and of great kindnesse forgiving transgression iniquity and sinne yet when hee dispences his pardon and disposeth his love mercifully towards us that hee may seale the assurance thereof to us hee will wrestle with us a little while in controlling the humour of our corrupt nature that when hee lets us see our corruptions subdued to him wee may by way of argumentation from the lesse to the more assure our selves of the riches of his favour towards us So that the meaning of the word is this Man wouldst thou have favour surely I thinke thou wouldst beginne thou then first thou madest the first fault make the first amends for it is reason so to bee What art thou in respect of mee or what is thy pardon in respect of mine What art thou I say in respect of mee Dust and ashes and to dust and ashes shalt thou returne againe But loe I am a great and incorruptible God before whom the heavens are not pure and in whose presence the Angels doe cover their faces as uncapable of my glory And as there is a difference betwixt thee a finite and corruptible creature and mee an infinite and incorruptible Creator so is there also as large an extent of difference betwixt thy wayes and my wayes
changed Wee are with David sore afraid and as Paul telleth us Wee murmur as those who have no hope But out upon such a weaknesse it is an evident testimony that wee are altogether carnall and as yet in our sinnes If our knowledge were better our affections should bee bettered also and if wee should once make the Lord our portion wee should be more glad to want the world then to have it and to say with Iob The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken c. And with the Apostle I count all things but losse in respect of the advantage I have in the Crosse of Iesus Thus wee have spoken something concerning the giver and the person to whom we say Give The manner of the word is remarkable For it is not a word of prevention It is not a word of retaliation it is only a word of supplication and begging That it is neither a word of preventiō nor retaliation I instāce from the Lawyers who say and that very well that there are two sorts of gifts Donationum alia est simplex gratuita alia cōditionata ob causam futurā When we come to God and say to him Give It telleth us that we can neither prevēt him by giving him any thing first or freely nor yet when hee hath given us any thing can we repay him with any recōpēce We cannot prevēt him by giving him first for that were against his eternity for it is written Who hath givē him first it shall be recōpenced Neither can we give him freely for that were against his alsufficiency For when hee is hungry he will not tell us c. And the earth is the Lords the furniture thereof Againe we cannot give him by way of remuneratiō or requitall Abrā whē he came to sojourne in the land of Canaan although all the land was his by promise yet did hee possesse nothing thereof but a place to bury his dead and that hee bought from Ephron the Hittite for thirtie peeces of silver even the cave of Maghpelae David at the returne of the Arke received the floore of Araunah the Jebusite and yet by way of requitall I will surely buy it of thee at a price The children of Aegypt in the time of famine received bread from Ioseph but they paid well for it when their money failed them they excambed their flocks and when their flocks failed they sold their land and their inheritance also But here is no such dealing betwixt God and us hee is the giver and we are the beggers Hee giveth first For he knew chose and loved us before wee were He giveth abundantly Wine to make the heart glad and oyle to make the face to shine Hee giveth freely also for wee have nothing to give backe againe and he dealeth with us as Ioseph dealt with his Brethren when we open our sacks wee finde our monies in the mouth of them restored again Hee will not make Merchandise with us For his house is not a house of Merchandise but a house of prayer And as Christ did in the last and great day of the feast and Isay in his prophesie So doth God to all of us this day Hoe All you that thirst come to the waters and care not for money come buy bread without money and Wine and Milke without a price Well then is God so liberall that notwithstanding we bee beggers yet hee scorneth not our petitions but giveth us first and freely fully and abundantly Is there nothing that thou canst give him or that he wil accept at thy hāds Yes three things those are First thankes for what thou hast received For he requireth this of thee that thou shouldst take the cup of Salvation and give praise to his Name That thou shouldst call on him in the day of thy trouble that hee may deliver thee and thou maist glorifie him And if thou doe not so thou art but a beast that drinkes of the stream without remembrance of the spring Secondly come againe also and seeke more for it is his delight He is not like man or the Sonne of man who feareth to give for feare of want or wearieth to give for frequency of petitions No his storehouse is not emptied The eyes of all things looke up to him hee openeth his hand and filleth them with his Blessing Neither wearieth hee with our frequent petitions but the homelyer we are we are still the welcomer 3. Remember also to give to the poore the thing that thou wouldest give him For he that hath pitty on the poore lendeth to the Lord and hee that giveth to any of these a cup of cold water shall not want a rich reward LECTIO 12. Give us this day c. AFter the search and enquirie of the word bread and of the word give which wee have explained to you in our two last sermons It resteth now that wee take a view of the third word Vs That wee may truly know to whom and to whose use it is that wee begge at the hands of God this bread In handling of this petition the words are very remarkable whereas they are severall in their litterall sense so are they also in their moral and spirituall use The first is a word of demonstration and evidence For it sheweth us whereof wee stand in neede that is Bread The second is a word of faith and sheweth us upon whom wee should depend for this Bread and that is Give The third word Vs is a word of charity begging Bread and all necessary support not for our selves alone but also for the mutuall members of the mysticall body of Jesus Christ The fourth word Ours is the word of a good Conscience The fift word Daily is a word of contentment And the last words For this day is a word of confession Wee have spoken of the word of demonstration and of the word of faith Let us now looke to the word of charity Vs. This I say is the Lecture of charity and that I may cleere it heare mee but a little If any shall enquire why I am commanded to say give us and not give mee I answere it is done for three causes 1. For the reference it hath with the Preface of this Prayer 2. For the reference it hath with Gods providence and will 3. And for the reference wee should have one to another as mutuall members of the mysticall body of Christ In the Preface and entry of this Prayer When our Redeemer CHRIST JESVS leadeth us to God to powre out our wants before him and to supplicate at his hands the support of those wants hee will not suffer us to say my Father but Our Father The reason is none can truly call him my father but Christ Jesus alone Hee is his father and his only by nature he is ours onely by adoption and in him and through him It was hee and he alone who being the image of the invisible God and the engraven forme and character